Halo: The Beginning
by Browniesas
Summary: A retelling of Halo in my own words. I added a few new scenes and some new characters, but nothing too drastic that would alter the original video game's plot and story line. I hope you like it! Please read and review!
1. The Pillar of Autumn

Marc ran down the hall, towards the lower chamber of the ship. The Pillar of Autumn shook thunderously, almost causing Marc to fall, but he caught himself at the last second. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his arising panic, and took off running once more.

Once he arrived at the door, he fed his card into the machine to open the door; the red light turning to green, to allow entrance. The lower chamber was gigantic and yet there was one lonely shaped coffin leaning on a pillar in the middle of the room. He ran towards the cryo tank which had a glass which had a glass top and yet his vision was still obscured by the fog which seemed to be emitting from within the casket.

Marc turned towards the observation room which was sitting on the top floor. Two men looked through the glass window, down at Marc, who gave them the universal 'OK' gesture. The men returned him with a thumbs up, and slowly, the glass casket opened.

Many men had heard rumors and stories about the Master Chief. But he wasn't really expect much because he knew all the rumors always tended to be true, although nothing could have braced him for what he was just about to witness.

As the fog seeped out of the casket, Marc took a step back and 2 dark green, heavily armored boots came out, right after the other. And then the rest of the green armored suit followed. The man - or was it a man, Marc wanted to know - had a helmet on that covered his face and hid his emotions. The legendary SPARTAN II soldier wasn't at all what he was imagined to be, although he was a gigantic 7' tall, he was still nothing compared to the height of the hunters whom were 12', but crouched to 8' when in combat.

The Master Chief stretched out his arms and legs, but otherwise showed no emotion of being locked up inside the cryo tank.

"Good to see you, Sir." Marc said nervously, unsure of what was to be expected from the soldier, who merely nodded in response. "Sorry for the emergency thaw Master Chief, but it seems we have a problem."

The Chief inquired his head to illustrate his confusion.

"It's the Covenant, Sir."

Master Chief nodded his head without further questioning.

Just then, something caught his eye and he looked up sharply at the observation room. Marc followed suit and saw the metal door burst open and 4 Covenant elites rush in, firing their plasma rifles and killing the 2 surprised men. Marc felt as if he had been punched in the stomach, seeing the 2 men that had been alive and healthy, now dead in less 5 seconds. They laughed, kicking the dead bodies and Marc felt the burning singe of hatred for the Covenant.

Seeing that the elites hadn't noticed them yet, the Master Chief grabbed Marc's arm, pulling him to the door. He smashed his fist on top of the card slot machine which whirred and turned green. The door opened and he yanked Marc through, who was still paralyzed by what he had just witnessed. There was a dead end to his left so Master Chief proceeded to the right, passing by an exposed ventilation shaft with an opening to the other side.

As soon as he was near the door a frantic beeping sound was heard and without hesitation, he shoved Marc back, but it was too late. The explosion hurled both him and Marc backwards. The blast had only drained his shields, but it was too much for Marc. Master Chief got up, stunned and feeling vulnerable turned to Marc who lay beside him in a pool of blood. He touched his neck to feel a pulse, but felt nothing. He turned towards the metal door which was bent and smoking. A trail of blood led up to Marc from the door, who lay cold and motionless.

The Master Chief got up, slowly backing away from the scene. He then turned away, when he stopped suddenly and ran towards the corpse again. He pulled the shirt up to reveal a gun still holstered to the belt. He grabbed the pistol and ran to the ventilation shaft, jumping over and onto the other side.

There was one door to his right and a dead end to his left. He pushed through the door, not exactly sure of where he was going, but continued to press ahead.

He accidently ran into a fellow soldier, who looked taken aback by his appearance, and then quickly cleared his face. Even though Chief was still able to detect awe in the man's face who gazed up at him, the soldier was disciplined fairly well.

"Sir, the Captain wants to see you on the double. It's important he said." He was young, in his early 20's with a handsome face and dark brown hair that seeped through his helmet. The Master Chief felt a pang of sorrow for the young soldier as he followed him. He shouldn't be here. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming responsibility to protect the soldier, feeling that if he didn't he would suffer the same outcome of Marc.

Master Chief sped up so he was next to the soldier other than behind him, just in case he had to pull him away from any hostiles. The young soldier gave him a funny look, but didn't object. There wasn't any fighting going on at the moment, but the soldier still kept his assault rifle in his hands, ready for usage as did Chief who kept the pistol in his hand.

Finally, the solider stopped and jerked his chin at the door in front of him. "He's waiting inside sir." Then he turned his back on the door to keep watch.

Master Chief entered the room, ducking his head as he did. There were computers and all sorts of buttons in which a few people attended to each one, looking frantic. But right when he entered, everyone stopped to stare at him. He ignored them, trying to find the captain, when the captain himself appeared around the corner.

He began barking orders at the people who ducked their heads in embarrassment like little school children. Captain Jacob Keyes had on the standard suit that everyone wore, carrying a pistol in his belt. His face was red from frustration and was lined with stress, showing his true age.

"Alright, get you're a** back to work, this ship isn't going to run on it's own!" the captain snapped, then used a sarcastic tone. "We all know of the great green monster folks - enough staring."

Master Chief smiled under his helmet and walked up to the captain who smiled at him, a familiar glint in his eyes.

"Good to see you Chief." He greeted him with a nod.

"Likewise, Sir." He responded, his voice low and masculine.

Keyes walked to the head of the ship and Master Chief followed, his chest constricting as he saw the damage that was being done to The Pillar of Autumn. Dimly, he heard a warning bell ring; the engines were going critical. And suddenly, he knew what Keyes wanted.

An agreement.

He looked at the great ring world, the world in which the Covenant armada called Halo. It was humongous and looked almost silvery and metallic like.

"No offense, Sir." Master Chief began. "But this war already has enough dead 'heroes.'"

Keyes turned to look at him, his hands behind his back. "We don't have much of a choice. The ship is going down - our only option is to land on that ring."

Just then, the ship's AI, Cortana flashed, her holographic body coming to life.

"Captain, Chief." She greeted them, turning to Chief with a mischievous smile upon her face. "Have a nice sleep?"

"No thanks to you, yes." He answered, a hint of a smile in his voice.

Cortana smiled too, folding her arms. "So you missed me, huh? Well, it's good to have you back in action."

Chief nodded his head and the captain cleared his throat.

"You have news for us, Cortana?"

"Yes - more Covenant battleships are closing in on us. If they increase their firepower, then we're doomed for. We have to leave the ship - _now. _Chief," she turned to him. "The south end of our ship is going critical, and we've lost all marine contact in the vicinity. We need you to round up as many men as you can and get them and yourself on an escape pod. I already have all of the pods trained to land on Halo."

"And I'm about ready to leave to." Captain Keyes inserted. "We have no choice, Chief."

Master Chief sighed but nodded reluctantly.

"Good," he turned his back on him to look at Cortana. "You ready?"

She took one last look of The Pillar Autumn's main control room and closed her eyes. "I'm ready."

Her eyes remained shut as Keyes took the chip out and Cortana's holographic image instantly disappeared. He pivoted on 1 foot till he faced the Chief again and handed him the microchip.

"Take good care of her Chief." Keyes said solemnly as he took it from him and inserted the chip into a slot in his helmet. "The rest of us will rendezvous on Halo. Until then Chief." He saluted respectfully and the Chief did the same.

The Master Chief left the bridge, coming to a stop when he noticed that the soldier who was standing guard just minutes before was gone. There was no blood, no body, and no trace of evidence that would have shown where he could've gone. The Chief shook his head as if to clear the image of finding the soldier's dead broken body somewhere along the way.

Ignoring the sense of dread, Cortana's voice chimed in sympathetically. "It'll be alright, Chief. Every man on this ship is here to fight for humanity. If he died - then he died with honor."

He didn't say anything, just continued running towards the red and yellow dots on his HUD.

Suddenly, there was machine gun fire and loud gunshots being heard from the cafeteria with marines shouting orders. Already outside the café, marines had fallen, their blood soaking the floor. Gritting his teeth, the Chief quickly checked for any signs of life before entering the café, but all of those who had fallen were dead; severe plasma burns covering their skin.

"Those marines could use some help Chief." Cortana reminded him as he quickly got up and ran into the café, picking up ammo along the way and the most familiar gun to him; the assault rifle.

Barging in through the double doors, he began firing his rounds, shooting the Covenant Elites that were attacking the marines who were fighting back valiantly.

"A SPARTAN!" one of the marines cried happily, ducking behind a table bench to avoid a plasma shot. "We're saved1"

One of the elites growled something in it's shanghelie tongue, it's mandibles clicking together and the rest of the elites stopped, focusing their beady eyes on the SPARTAN. They started shooting him down, but the Chief avoided plasma shots after plasma shots, ducking and weaving out of the way while he continued firing his assault rifle, only stopping briefly to reload.

After a couple of minutes, he successfully gunned down 2 of the remaining elites, and with help from the other marines, killed the other 2 elites.

"Wow, Chief." One of the marines said in his New York accent and let out a low impressed whistle. "They don't call you that for nothin'."

The SPARTAN busily reloaded his gun, picking up more ammo from his fallen comrades and stocking up on more grenades as well as plasma grenades.

One of the other marines wiped the sweat from his brow, fixing his helmet. "We're on our way to the southern end of the ship, to help out more marines. Are you coming too Sir? We're going to take the escape pod just shortly after."

The Master Chief thought it over for a bit. "I think it's best if you take the escape pod now. I can round up the other marines by myself."

"Alright sir." He said in his southern drawl. He turned to the rest of the waiting marines. "You heard the SPARTAN, let's get a move on it." All together the marines left for an escape pod, going in the opposite direction of the Chief. He watched them go then continued on his trek to the southern side of the ship.

Running past a window, he saw more and more Covenant battleships targeting the ship, repeatedly firing their plasma guns. As he watched, he saw an escape pod launch itself from the Pillar of Autumn which was immediately destroyed by the battleships. Gnashing his teeth, he started running once more while Cortana reflected upon what she had just witnessed.

"I can't believe it!" she said, outraged. "How could they? That's horrible!" she sighed, cursing softly.

The Master Chief was turning a corner when he screeched to a halt. A single red dot appeared on his HUD but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Thinking he had imagined the dot, he persisted, although he remained guard for the slightest of sounds.

Suddenly, a yellow dot materialized on his HUD and following that came a piercing shout - one of the marines. More red dots surrounded the yellow dot and the Chief picked up on his speed, turning a corner so he could sneak up behind the aliens.

The scene that he saw made Cortana curse loudly, gasping as a Covenant Elite had a marine by the neck, strangling the soldier who sucked in air wildly, trying to stay alive while the elite's friends watched, laughing sardonically. Gripping his assault rifle tightly, Master Chief took aim, targeting the main elite's head when what felt like a solid chunk of concrete smashed into his head, blinding his vision in pain.

Sucking in a mouthful of air, Master Chief swiveled around with his assault rifle swinging, to see nothing when his gun connected with the invisible elite. It cried out in pain, attracting the other group's attention. Moving quickly, the Chief ducked under the elite, pushing him in the line of fire when the elites had already started firing. Killing their own comrade by accident, the elites howled in fury, the leader crushing the marine's neck who let out a horrible ear-splitting screech, dropping to the ground.

Immediately, the elites lunged for the SPARTAN who was already backing away, yanking out the pin and chucking the grenade at the unfortunate elites whom wailed in pain when the grenade exploded. Their purple and blue blood mottled the interior of the corridor, but the Chief ran past the slippery glutinous mess and towards the marine. He felt the young marine's neck which was ultimately broken and sighing pitifully, he got up when Cortana interrupted.

"His eyes," she said quietly.

Bending down once more, he shut the marines eyes', collecting his dog tag and wrapping it around his wrist.

"Remind me to get this back to his family." He said; his voice flat and emotionless.

"They should know." She agreed, trying to contain her sadness.

"Chief, have you made it to the southern end yet?" Captain Keyes radioed in, interrupting them.

"Not yet." He answered.

"Well be careful along the way. Some Covenant jacka**** decided to hitch a ride. Take em out."

"How are they managing to infiltrate our ship?" Cortana inquired.

"From the launched escape pods." He grunted.

"Those clever b*******." Cortana fumed. Once the captain's voice was gone, she urgently began instructing the Chief. "We have to get to the marines and _fast._ Time just got scarce. We can't let the Covenant wipe out the rest of the marines. We have to move _now._"

But the Chief was already ahead of her, sprinting towards the sound of bullets and hot plasma being shot by both races. Entering, he saw 2 platforms where they were shooting furiously at each other, the Covenant mainly occupying the top of the stairs. Rushing up the steps, he started delivering blows, instantly killing the grunts that stood in his way. With the elites it was much harder as he ducked, rolling out of the way and hurling a plasma grenade to the elite's head which stuck to him. He bellowed in fury, running towards the Chief in vain attempt to kill them both, when the grenade exploded and the Master Chief was splattered with its brains and blood.

Trying to wipe his visor clean with his hand, another elite snuck up behind him, invisible, and struck his helmet with so much force that it would have crushed the skull of any normal man but not the SPARTAN. Even Cortana hissed momentarily when she was also able to feel the force of the impact.

Swiveling around, he dealt out his own series of punches, driving one up the elite's jaw. Cursing in his native tongue, the elite grabbed the Chief's helmet with both of his hands and brought it up to his own head, sending a jolt throughout the Chief's body. Hastily cuffing the elite's abdomen, the Chief staggered back, trying to control the blackness that threatened to overtake him when the elite roared and sprang at him.

But before he could make contact, the elite emitted a horrible cry, sinking to his feet where the Chief could see a single bullet, still smoking, inserted in the back of the helmet. Looking down, he saw a marine whoop with joy as did the other marines who were still standing.

After having the premise liberated of all hostiles, the Master Chief found an open entry way which was partially jammed, but he rammed his shoulder into the door, thus forcing it open.

Peeking through the door, he found more marines who were unable to breach the other side, looking relieved when they saw that the Chief was able to open the door for them.

"Thanks Chief." One of the marines grinned as did the other 2 who quickly ran past him, out the door.

"Wait," he called to them and they immediately froze, turning to face him with questioning yet tired faces. "Keyes wants you all on an escape pod. Where are the other marines?"

A marine with a badge and a name tag that read 'LT. Shane Matthews' stepped forward to answer the question, "they're still at the farthest backing of the ship sir. Some Covenant s***heads found a way in and started attacking us. So they sent us to find help."

"Are they still standing?" he asked the Lieutenant, sounding tense with worry.

"Yes sir." The marine said proudly then frowned. "But there are just too many elites. They kept charging us but we held them off."

Thinking fast, "Take the nearest escape pod and leave. I'll see what I can do." The Master Chief said, already heading past the group when he was interrupted.

"Sir?" the Lieutenant said, sounding offended, his eyebrows puckering. "Sir, we didn't sign up for nothing. We can take care of ourselves and those d***** elites. We're coming with you."

"This isn't about being brave and courageous." The Chief said tersely, getting frustrated as time ticked away. "This is about staying alive and getting your a** on board Halo safely."

Seeming slightly taken aback, the LT. stammered throughout his speech. "B-but sir! W-we know w-what to do. We c-can-"

"Enough Lieutenant." He interrupted. "Get on board that escape pod. _That's an order._" Stalking off and not waiting for a response, he left the dumbfounded marines to carry out his order and returned back to his mission.

"I'm tracking movement Chief." Cutting into his thoughts, said Cortana tensely.

On his HUD screen he indeed noticed a row of red marks which were parallel to a row of yellow dots. Peeking around a corner he saw them; grunts and massive elites whom hid to and fro behind empty crates of ammo and equipment while across the room he could see the human forces holding their own, but just barely.

"Please don't." Cortana said softly, but the Chief had already developed a plan, chucking the plasma grenade in the middle of the surprised elites and grunts hold out.

"Get out of the way!" one of the grunts squealed, diving to one side, but his warning was too late just as the grenade exploded causing a chain reaction off of any other grenades the Covenant troops carried. They went off consecutively and the Chief ended up counting at least 6 explosions which killed off all of the resisting forces and therefore ending the siege.

Suddenly there was a huge shock wave which shook the Pillar of Autumn, spooking its inhabitants. Cortana instantly reported back to Keyes who informed them grimly that all Covenant forces had either left the ship or had been eliminated and that they were preparing to blast the ship with its plasma torpedoes.

"Get yourself on one of those escape pods Chief. Report back to me once you've breached Halo."

"Understood." He answered right when the ship shook once more, cutting off the lights and any communication.

"This can't be good." Cortana intoned.

_No kidding,_ the Chief thought to himself.

Switching on his built in flashlight which was attached to his assault rifle, he headed towards where the human resistance had once been but had now scattered off. He found more fallen comrades but he ignored them when the ship shook thunderously. Speeding up his jog to a sprint he headed straight for an escape pod, but all the ones he passed where either occupied or badly damaged to the point that they were unable for flight.

"Chief…" Cortana said, her voice rising in panic.

The alarm started ringing dimly in the distance but the Chief was beyond listening. The Pillar of Autumn trembled again and he could hear the torpedo making contact with the metal exterior of the ship.

"How much time?" he grunted, his gun pointed straight ahead as he dashed through the corridors, trying to find an empty or somewhat empty deployment pod, but again, they all seemed to be taken.

"Approximately 1 minute. Hurry Chief!" he could almost visibly see Cortana trying to contain her anxiety of being left behind with the ship.

Running up a flight of stairs, he turned a corner and another corner until finally, he saw an escape pod which still had its doors opened and starting to close…

Diving through the opening, he barely made it as the sick with dread marines whom were packed inside of the pod, breathed a sigh of relief.

"You made it Chief." He recognized the marine as the one who had escorted him to the bridge and Cortana projected a smile into the Chief's head.

"He made it." She said so quietly that not even the other marines could hear what she had spoken.

"Alright folks," the female pilot said with her southern drawl. "Hold on tight, this is going to be a rough landing."

The escape pod was launched and they braced themselves as they rocketed towards the ring world Halo cutting it close just as the Pillar of Autumn burst into a silent fury of flames.

The Master Chief was the only one who was standing, his hands firmly gripping the inside of the small ship which was roughly about the same height as the SPARTAN so he was able to stand comfortably.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a seat?" Cortana said queasily.

"I'll be fine." He answered simply just as they entered Halo's atmosphere.

"Please?" she begged him but he ignored her as they neared closer to Halo.

***wow, that was a long one. I wasn't expecting it to be this long. Oh well. I hope you all liked it! Please read and review!!!!! :) Hopefully, I'll be updating soon, but I can't be sure b/c of school and other stuff getting in the way.**


	2. Halo PART ONE

It was as if the whole escape pod was on fire, the whole object trembling with fury as the marines hung on to their seats for dear life. Even the Master Chief was having trouble managing to stand up as the escape hurtled towards Halo. His feet began to lift off of the ground and he clung to the seats, dimly he heard one of the marines screaming in terror and Cortana hissing, "Do you mind taking a seat _now?!_"

"We'll be fine," he said grimly, gaining his footing once more.

"CHIEF!" she screamed, making his ears ring.

A jarring impact informed the Chief that they had landed. He blacked out.

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Silence enveloped the life pod.

Cortana anxiously searched the HUD monitor for any signs of life. There was none. Only darkness. "C'mon Chief." She begged softly.

A cough rang throughout the silent air.

"Chief!" she cried eyeing the yellow dot that beeped slowly and then blacked out once more. "Are you there?" the yellow dot appeared once more

The coughing continued until the person cleared his throat and Cortana sighed in relief. "I told you to take a seat." She chided gently, but was too relieved to go any further.

The Chief shook his head to alleviate the fog that threatened to engulf him. He coughed once more, feeling as if he had broken all the bones in his body. He got up carefully, checking for any damage when he saw the scene around him.

"The others," she said, her voice full of emotion. "There was nothing we could do…"

Unlike him, the other marines didn't fare so well. The marines where still strapped to their seats, their heads bowed at an odd angle with their necks broken. The pilot was also killed, leaning over the dashboard with hands pale and lifeless hanging from the controls.

"We should move - there isn't anything we can do about it." She said.

Without saying a word, he quickly rounded up all of the dog tags of the fallen marines. "I'll give them to Captain Keyes later." He explained quietly.

"Alright." She agreed when it quickly turned into a gasp. "Drop ship in bound Chief. If we're lucky, and you move now, we might be able to avoid it."

He nodded, understanding her plan.

"There are some boulders you could use as cover, over the bridge. Move it double time Chief."

Quickly selecting his choice of guns - an assault rifle and pistol – he exiting the life pod where a couple more marines had actually managed to escape their seats and lay fallen with their bodies sprawled. Blood stained the grass around them and out of the back of his head, he heard Cortana suck in a mouthful of air.

Gritting his teeth, he saw the bridge up ahead and headed towards it. It connected the 2 cliffs together, well over a 3,000 feet drop to the water below, the slippery surface of the bridge making it hard to remain balanced. He quickened his pace, not daring to look anywhere else but ahead of him when he heard the thunderous engine of the Covenant drop ship nearby.

Glancing up momentarily, he couldn't see the drop ship but his HUD monitor indicated that the ship was very close along with 2 other red dots. Predicting that it was just around the corner, behind the cliff wall, he hastily made it towards the other side and ducked behind some bushes when the drop ship appeared with 2 banshees flanking it.

Peering through the bushes, he saw the ship hover just a couple of feet off the ground as the passengers jumped off, securing the premise. The drop ship left, but the 2 banshees remained, also hunting for any survivors. The 3 elites and 4 grunts searched the life boat, looking for any signs of life when suddenly, one of the elites straightened up, and turned to look right at him.

Master Chief ducked behind the bushes once more, but the damage was done. He heard the elite shout something in his guttural language, alerting the others.

The first of many plasma shots hit the bushes, immediately incinerating the leaves. He took a step back and ducked when another plasma shot just barely missed his helmet.

"Keep your head down!" Cortana hissed angrily just as another plasma shot cremated a close by leaf. "There are 2 of us in here now!"

_Right,_ the Chief though sarcastically, _but I'm the one doing all the work right? _

Gripping his pistol tightly, he zoomed in on the lens, sniping out as many grunts as possible and ended up killing 3 of them successfully. Switching guns, he got out of his hiding place when Cortana interrupted once more.

"What are you doing?" she cried. "You'll kill us both!"

And as if on cue, a banshee whirled around to face its target, rapidly shooting its plasma guns at the SPARTAN, who dove to one side to avoid the blows. Suddenly, there was a burst of green light that seemed to explode from the ground and the Chief was thrust backwards when he caught site of the banshee pulling away just before he hit the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he got back up, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The 3 elites were hurrying over the bridge, shooting every so often and the 2 banshees were whirling around, readying for their 2nd phase of attacks.

A movement caught his eye and swiveling around, he caught the grunt that had snuck up behind him with the butt of his gun, cracking open its skull. He shrieked and fell in its own blood while the Chief calmly cleaned the end of his gun which had acquired some blood onto it.

After reviewing over a couple of different possible strategies, he chose the most _abstract_ one, knowing Cortana would love his idea. Thinking it over once more, he nodded it to himself, although this stunt would require perfect timing, or he was a goner.

The 1st banshee neared, firing its plasma guns rapidly and then veering off in another direction when the other banshee took its place.

_Perfect,_ he thought smugly, running at full speed towards the banshee who had ventured closer to get a better aim when he _leaped. _Barely managing to scrap his hands over the hood of the banshee, he heard Cortana say, "Oh no, ho, ho, ho, no."

_Probably already guessed my intentions,_ he thought glumly then brightened. _Well she can still enjoy the show._

Nonetheless, he placed the plasma grenade onto the hood of the banshee, which stuck to it, and then let himself slip off the smooth surface of the banshee. Amazingly, he managed to execute the move perfectly and ended up right on top of the other banshee which had been flying underneath the 2nd banshee at the moment.

Letting himself slide off the rear end of that one, he grabbed the elite's legs which were sticking out of the banshee and yanked hard. Using the momentum gained from the yank, he managed to take control of the banshee. The elite sprawled through the air, shrieking the entire time until it hit the ground below, its mangled body disturbing the other elites whom had paused to watch his incredible stunt.

_Go, go, go!_ He pulled the accelerator on the banshee, hooking his legs in the back.

Almost instantly, the banshee behind him exploded into a fiery ball of fire, encasing its pilot and itself in the explosion. The banshee's contorted frame hurtled back down to the ground with a loud crash and the Chief grinned behind his visor.

"You're lucky." Cortana growled.

He ignored her, steering the banshee around to face the remaining elites and slaughtered them in a matter of seconds. _I have to ditch this thing. I'm too noticeable in the sky_

Landing the banshee, he got out safely and continued on foot towards the hill and the waterfall.

"We have to get to higher ground. If we can reach the top of that peak up ahead, we might be able to spot other life boats." Cortana informed him just as he cleared the hill, the waterfall to his right practically droning out her voice.

He trekked up another hill, a clearing up ahead with a few bushes. _Good, so I don't have to worry about ambushes._ _Or not,_ he thought, grumbling to himself when he saw a flash of red on his HUD.

"Incoming hostiles," Cortana whispered unnecessarily to him.

With his assault rifle in hand, he ran up the hill as if nothing had happened and went on his merry way when an elite launched itself at him, growling something incoherently.

The Chief simply ducked and the elite went soaring over his head, landing heavily on the ground. He stuck a plasma grenade at him and backed up a few paces as the elite got up and screamed, yanking at the plasma grenade. But it was no use as the elite blew up, taking down a nearby elite who was invisible at the moment and hadn't seen the bomb on him.

Smiling satisfactorily, he cracked open another grunt's skull and it too fell to the ground.

He continued up the hill once more and managed to reach the top of it without anymore disturbances. There was a vast marbled structure in the middle of the vacant field which was pockmarked with boulders, trees, and craters.

"I'm picking up different signals Chief." Cortana inserted. "They seem to be coming from inside the structure. It'd be best if we checked it out for any marines before we move on."

He was heading towards the structure as Cortana had instructed him to do when he saw 2 more life boats speeding towards the ground, and disappearing over the mountainous region.

"More life boats!" she exclaimed and the Chief grunted in response.

The Master Chief picked up his pace, keeping up a steady jog, and entered the structure. It was cold and damp inside of it, his footsteps echoing throughout the halls. No one appeared on his radar but he continued forward.

There was a ramp ahead of him, leading towards the basement of the building. He took the ramp, slowing to a stop when he reached the ground below. It was dark and smelled musty with grime and decay. He turned on his light, holding out his assault rifle, ready to shoot.

The SPARTAN was about to turn a corner when he heard a shout and turned in the direction of running feet. It leaped at him, but moving as fast as only a SPARTAN could do, he grabbed the assailant by the neck who choked and gasped for air.

Bringing the person up to his light so he could see, he saw that it was a marine instead and immediately let him go.

The marine gasped for air and a single yellow dot appeared on his HUD followed by numerous other yellow dots that all seemed to crowd him. Out of the shadows came other marines with an African American sergeant in lead.

"Sorry about that Chief." The marine managed to say in between breaths, rubbing his neck where he was grabbed just moments before. "I shouldn't have scared you like that. We thought you were another one of those Covenant b*******. They somehow keep finding us. Sorry."

The Chief shrugged but the sergeant stepped in to scold the other marine.

"When I say hold your fire, I meant it, you idiot!" he snapped, narrowing his eyes at the sheepish marine.

"No harm done though, so…" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"No harm done?!" the sergeant barked. "What do you think would have happened if that was not the Master Chief then, huh? _No harm done._ You'd have been lying on you're a** with a broken neck and yet another casualty for me to report back to Keyes."

The marine cringed, looking up at the Chief to see what he thought of his faulty, but the Chief remained silent, not wanting to deal with their problems.

The sergeant, after dealing with the marine, turned to the Chief, his expression grim. "We keep tagging invisible Covenant forces. There are probably more Covenant forces just outside."

"You have a plan?" the chief inquired.

"Well…" pink splotches appeared on his dark skin as he stumbled over his words. "Not exactly…But we were thinking of sending out a small team to scavenge the field, that way we'll know what's going on outside."

"I don't know about that though, Johnson." One of the marines said, his face scrunched up in thought.

"What do you mean?" Sergeant Johnson snapped, getting aggravated.

"Well, for starters, what happens if one of us gets hurt or possibly even killed? We haven't had any fatalities, and remember, Keyes said-"

"I know what Keyes said!" Johnson interrupted. "But I don't see any other bright ideas out on the table, now do I? We'll just have to do the best that we possibly can. And the best that we can possibly do at this moment right now is to fight back!"

"We could die though!" the other marine practically shouted at him.

"Son, at this point, this is a straight up suicide mission. We have no other options. If there were any, I would take them under consideration, but there _is_ none!"

"So - what? You're going to kill us all off now? Is that what you're expecting us to do? To die with honor? What _honor_?"

While the 2 continued to banter, the Chief was able to tone their voices out, in order to listen what was happening outside. He darted off to the entrance of the room they were in, listening closely to any signs of Covenant. It was right when he returned to join the marines once more did he hear the faint shuffle of feet.

He immediately turned in the direction of the sound, silencing the marines with a raise of his hand. Clutching his assault rifle tightly, he soundlessly walked to the direction where he had heard it, when he saw a faint blue spark that seemed to be emitting from the ground. Not stopping to think, he dove backwards in record time to avoid a grenade blast that echoed loudly throughout the entire room.

Slowly, the ceiling of the exit began to deteriorate and huge chunks of marble tore off and hit the ground, creating a loud crashing sound. More pieces of marble detached from the ceiling, thus covering up the exit.

He hastily stood up, dusting off his armor to look at the marines who were gazing upon him in shock.

"We have to move. They know where we are." The Chief said, heading towards one of the 3 remaining exits with the marines trailing behind him wordlessly.

It was then that the 2nd grenade went off and the SPARTAN and the marines were thrown across the room. The marbled ceiling also broke off and covered the entire exit.

"They're trying to seal us in!" one of the marines cried out, panic clear in his voice as he got up, grasping his assault rifle tightly.

"Move it marines!" the sergeant bellowed, sprinting towards one of the exits that hadn't been blow apart. "Let's go, go, go!" he ushered the marines through, whom zipped out the exit as fast as they could.

The Chief was the last to leave when suddenly he heard a cry from back inside the structure. He turned to see a marine scrambling towards the entrance with a bloody leg when the exit exploded and the Chief was thrown off his feet.

"What are you doing Chief?" the sergeant shouted at him, not having seen the trapped marine. He was already up the ramp and out of the structure with the rest of marines crowded around him.

"There's a marine still inside!" the Chief answered calmly, rushing up the steps and towards the opposite end of the structure, not waiting for a response, when the sergeant stepped in his way.

"What are you talking about? What marine?" he demanded.

"The previous blast from the explosion must have wounded him. That's why he wasn't able to escape with us in time." He answered with forced impatience, his HUD monitor detecting a huge red dot. _Not good. _It was a Covenant drop ship heading their way.

The sergeant cursed just as the ship's thunderous engine was heard, echoing throughout the skies. He glanced up and cursed once more. "I'm not leaving behind a marine Chief. No god d*** way I'm not." He warned.

"Good. So you'll stay here with the rest of marines until I get back." Master Chief was about to walk past him when the sergeant blocked his path once more.

"I think you got that last part wrong there Chief."

The Chief felt like tossing him aside, but forced himself to remain rooted in his spot. "I don't have time for this."

"And neither do I." Johnson agreed, turning to the marines. "Go find a place to hide and we'll be back as soon as possible. Give them h*** marines." With that, he ran past the Chief who stared at him dumbfounded, at once getting angry with himself for letting Johnson do this to him.

Nonetheless, he said nothing, but his anger mounted when he saw the drop ship unload a wad of Covenant near the marines hiding place and then disappear once more. He saw the marines open fire, trying their best to ward off their foes.

"They'll be fine." Johnson assured him just as they reached the opposite end of the structure. Fortunately, the exit was not blown apart and they were able to once more go underground.

Their footsteps echoed throughout the room as they walked down the ramp with their assault rifle in hand. They continued down the ramp until they reached the room they were in before, scouting the area for the lost marine. There was indeed a blood trail from the past cave-in that he hadn't noticed before, and scolded himself for it.

They were gazing around the room when his flashlight hit something. Rushing to the object, he saw that it was one of the marine's helmets. He picked it up and handed it back to Johnson, who, paled face, took it. He turned the helmet over to reveal the name tag hidden underneath the flap.

"Jenkins," he whispered.

There was shuffle behind the Chief and he immediately swiveled around to face the sound. Heading deeper into the room he saw nothing until he saw a pale hand peeking out from around the corner, near the one of the caved-in exits. Running towards the hand, he turned the corner to see a white-faced marine with his mouth, hands and feet bound. His left leg had a huge gash and was still bleeding freely.

Crouching over the marine, the Chief quickly tore off the rope from his mouth, hands, and feet. The marine doubled over and gasped for air, with trickles of sweat and blood oozing from his scalp and running down his cheeks.

"You okay Jenkins?" Johnson asked, running up beside the Chief to gaze at the marine. "For god's sake marine - what the h*** happened?"

Right when he was about to answer, out of nowhere, the sergeant buckled and fell to the ground, letting out a moan of pain. Standing behind him stood an elite with his weapon raised in midair. His eyes were bloodshot with murder in his eyes.

"SPARTAN!" it hissed, pointing at the Chief and raising his weapon.

The Chief immediately raised his arms to signal no harm. Just as the elite lowered his weapon, lunging at him, he grabbed the plasma rifle from his hand and pounded it against his skull. After successfully killing the elite, he helped Johnson to his feet, who rubbed his head with a scowl on his face.

"Let's get him onboard a pelican. I don't think he can endure the rest of the time here." The Chief suggested, gently pulling Jenkins to his feet who groaned in pain, but otherwise said nothing.

"Good idea." The sergeant responded. "I'll lead the way out."

The 3 of them ascended the ramp, at once entering the chaos that threatened to engulf them. A storm of Covenant troops were spread out across the field in vain attempt to hunt down the marines, whom had managed to successfully avoid the Covenant. But as soon as they saw the 3 emerge from the fallen shelter, the Covenant opened fire.

Hiding behind a corner of the structure, the Chief began to instruct the sergeant of his plan. "Go back to the marines with Jenkins. I'll hold them off for as long as I can. Find someplace safe and I'll come find you later."

"I'm not leaving-" Johnson began.

"It's for the best." He snapped, handing him Jenkins, who was unconscious. "Now go!"

Nodding reluctantly, Johnson took Jenkins and left, going from behind the structure. Grimly, the Chief reloaded his gun as Cortana chimed in.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" she asked queasily.

"I'm not risking any of their lives." He said emotionlessly. Saying that, he turned the corner and opened fire, gunning down at least 4 grunts before having to reload again. He headed towards one of the biggest elites, whipping out his pistol and firing simultaneously. The elite dodged a few of his shots, but eventually fell mercy to his pistol.

Another elite came and attacked him, swinging his gun. The Chief had just enough time to weave out of the way to avoid getting hurt when the elite attacked again. The butt of his gun rammed into the Chief's ribs, knocking the breath out of him. Feeling lightheaded, he tried to regain his composure when the elite slammed his foot into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

Seeing that Master Chief was starting to fail, the rest of the marines quickly welcomed the sergeant and Jenkins into their huddle, and whipped up a plan. All of the marines minus Johnson who was tending to Jenkins, created a mass diversion, shooting the Covenant and fanning out in all directions.

Of course, the rest of the Covenant turned to them but the other elite remained rooted in his spot, standing over the Chief. He kicked his side multiple times, with Cortana hissing in sympathy to each hit until the Chief grabbed the elite's foot, and yanked. The elite fell and the Chief rose to his full height, bringing out his pistol and shooting the fallen elite in the skull.

The elite let out a horrible cry, its blood soaking the ground beneath it. The rest of the marines had able to gun down the rest of the grunts and kill off a couple of elites. Only a few remained, staying in close formation. Hatching an idea, the chief took out a grenade from one of his various pouches he carried and lightly tossed the grenade at the unsuspected elites. They tried to weave out of the way, but only managed to run into each other. The bomb exploded and fragments of their body parts flew out, splattering a few of the marines and the Chief himself.

One of marines nearest him grinned, wiping the elite's blood off his face. "Nice one Chief."

The rest of the marines whooped and hollered with joy.

"Oh yeah! Purple hearts for everybody!" another marine shouted.

Meanwhile, Cortana called upon a nearby pelican to help pick up the marines. "Echo-419, this is Fire-team Charlie, requesting for a pick up."

"It'll be my pleasure Cortana." The female pilot responded.

Shortly, a pelican arrived with a warthog attached to the bottom of it. The pelican hovered above the ground, dropping the warthog from it's grasp and then descending. The marines rushed towards the pelican with Johnson and Jenkins safely getting on board.

"Mind if you can spare a few men?" Cortana asked the pilot.

"Of course." She answered.

Two marines ran towards the warthog, taking the gunner and shotgun seats. The Chief took the drivers seat after seeing that the pelican left safely. Putting the key in the ignition, he started up the vehicle.

"Let's see if we can make contact with the rest of the marines, Chief." Cortana said, just as they began to head down the hill.

"Right." The Master Chief said. _Considering that they're still alive._

***this took a really long time, and I'm sorry for the long wait, but I've had a pretty hectic couple of weeks so I wasn't able to get on the computer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully there will be more coming soon. I wanted to split this chapter into a couple of parts because it got too long, so I'll try to post the rest of the chapter online soon. And for those who are still reading this, thanks!!! I'll try not to disappoint!!**


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